Commonwealth of The Bahamas

• Abaco National Park

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  The Abaco National Park is a 25,000 acre preserve protecting the valuable breeding grounds of Amazonis leucocephala bahamensis, an endemic race of the Rose-throated Parrot (formerly Cuban Parrot), which exists on two Islands of the Bahamas – Abaco in the north and Great Inagua in the south. Interestingly enough, the parrots on Abaco nest in holes in the limestone, making them one of just five species of ground-nesting parrots in the world (The others are all from Australasia and include the flightless kakapo of New Zealand – Thanks FatBirder for setting me straight!).

• Lake Rosa

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  Greater Flamingo is the national bird of the Bahamas, and is readily seen in great numbers on Lake Windsor on Great Inagua.

• Long Island

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  Long Island is home to one of the largest regional populations of the endangered West Indian Whistling Duck. They are reported exist in smaller numbers on Andros, Abaco, Cat Island and New Providence]. West Indian Whistling Ducks inhabit remote mangrove wetlands areas, and are difficult to see due to the fact that they are nocturnal, virtually silent, and naturally secretive.

• Northern Islands

  Two endemic sub-species of woodland warblers – Pine Warbler and Yellow-throated Warbler – inhabit the pine covered Islands of the northern Bahamas, as does the Olive-capped Warbler. The Black-cowled Oriole occurs only on Andros Island in the Northern Bahamas; it has more yellow and a stouter bill than other races of Black-cowled Oriole.

• Ron Pagliaro

• Number of bird species: 377

  (As of September 2018)

  National Bird: Caribbean Flamingo Phoenicopterus ruber

• Number of endemics: 3

  Bahama Woodstar Calliphlox evelynae Bahama Yellowthroat Geothlypis rostrata Bahama Swallow Tachycineta cyaneoviridis

• A Birder's Guide to the Bahama Islands

  | (Including Turks and Caicos) | By Anthony W White | ABA | 1998 | Spiralbound | 302 pages, Colour and b/w photos, illustrations, maps | ISBN: 9781878788160 Buy this book from NHBS.com

• Bahemian and Caribbean Birds

  | LMH Publishing | 1995 | Hardback | ISBN: 9789766250768 Buy this book from NHBS.com

• Birds of the Bahamas and the Turks & Caicos Islands

  | By Bruce Hallett | Macmillan Caribbean | 2006 | Paperback | 245 pages, colour photos, b/w illustrations, 1 colour & 1 b/w map | ISBN: 9780333937440 Buy this book from NHBS.com

• The Birds of the Southern Bahamas

  | By Donald W Buden | BOU | 1987 | Paperback | 119 pages, figs, tabs, maps | ISBN: 9780907446071 Buy this book from NHBS.com

• The Birds of the West Indies

  | By Guy M Kirwan, Anthony Levesque, Mark W Oberle & Christopher J Sharpe | Lynx Edicions | 2019 | 400 pages, 1600+ colour illustrations, 650+ colour distribution maps | ISBN: 9788416728176 Buy this book from NHBS.com

• Andros Conservancy and Trust

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  To protect, preserve, enhance, and restore the natural resources of Andros Island and its marine environment through education, conservation, and management. ANCAT envisions a future for Andros that embraces and secures our natural environment for the benefit of present and future generations.

• Bahamas National Trust

  Website
  The Bahamas National Trust is a non-profit organisation in The Bahamas that manages the country’s national parks.

• Bahamas Protected Area Fund (BPAF)

  Website
  The Bahamas Protected Area Fund (BPAF) is a national conservation trust fund devoted to helping ensure that Bahamian marine parks will have a dedicated, sustainable source of revenue to employ staff, galvanize local community support, purchase equipment, build visitor facilities and monitor ecosystem health.

Abbreviations Key

• NP Abaco

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  This was a significant addition (1994) to the Bahamian national park system, which protected enough natural habitat to ensure the survival of the endangered Bahama parrot. The park is located on the southeastern portion of Abaco, between Hole-in-the-Wall and Crossing Rocks. It encompasses 5,000 acres of pine forest.

• NP Conception Island

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  The Conception Island National Park lies between Cat Cays to the north and Rum Cay to the south. The vegetation consists of mangrove communities, with typical strand vegetation, and the island is visited by green turtles, sea birds and migrating birds.

• NP IBA Inagua

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  nagua National Park is a national park on the island of Great Inagua in The Bahamas. It was established in 1965 and has an area of 220,000 acres (890 km2). The park encloses all of Lake Rosa, the largest salt-water lake in the Bahamas where world's largest breeding colony of West Indian flamingoes can be found. The park has contributed to increasing bird populations in nearby islands such as Mayaguana, Acklins, Crooked Island, Cuba, and Andros.

• NP Lucayan

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  The Lucayan National Park was established in March 1982. It is located between Freeport and Freetown at Gold Rock Creek and consists of 40 acres of land. The Park contains one of the longest charted underwater cave systems in the world; a unique system of elevated walkways through the last intact mangrove wetland on the southern shore of Grand Bahama, a magnificently wide unspoiled beach showcasing the tallest sand dunes on the island and a wealth of flora and fauna.

• NR Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park

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  Though this park is mostly water, the land is a vital refuge for a small mammal called the hutia, several rare and endangered iguana species and marine birds that nest high in the bluffs. They include Audubon's shearwater, white-tailed tropicbird, brown noddy and six species of terns (bridled, least, roseate, royal, sandwich and sooty).

• NR Rand Nature Centre

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  The 100-acre sanctuary was the first education nature center to be established in The Islands of The Bahamas and its goal is to preserve the natural Grand Bahamian habitat as a heritage for future generations. Located only minutes from downtown Freeport, the Rand Nature center is by far Grand Bahama's most accessible nature park…

• Parks of the Bahamas

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  The Bahamas boasts a massive twelve ecological state-supported national parks in addition to privately owned ecological Meccas. The Bahamian nerve centre for studying ecology and mapping plans for the total enjoyment of nature`s wonders is The Bahamas National Trust first established in 1959. Its headquarters is now an 11-acre garden of rare palms and native Bahamian coppice: one of the largest private collections in the world. His Royal Highness The Prince Philip officially opened The Retreat in October 1985 and the 150-year old house in the gardens now acts as the headquarters.

• Wetland of International Importance

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  Bahamas presently has just one site designated as a Wetland of International Importance, with a surface area of 32,600 hectares.

• Local Birding Guides

  Webpage
  A number of expert guides can be found throughout our islands, including Certified Bahamas Birding Tour Guides with decades of experience. They can lead you to the best birdwatching areas on half-day or full-day birding tours, giving you the opportunity to add some new unique species to your life list.

Click on WAND to see Fatbirder’s Trip Report Repository…

• 2011 [06 June] - Gary & Marlene Babic

  Report
  We took a several day trip to The Bahamas and, while there, set aside three days exclusively for birding. We hired Carolyn Wardle of Bahamas Outdoors to be our guide for one day on New Providence (Nassau) and a one day trip over to Andros, and hired a car for a third day to bird on our own. We ended up seeing every endemic, endemic sub-species, and specialty, except the Cuban Parrot. We were especially pleased to see the elusive Key West Quail-Dove…

• 2012 [02 February] - Barry Cooper & Gail Mackiernan

  PDF Report
  We decided to take advantage of an inexpensive package deal from Expedia and re-visit this Caribbean island. The package included direct flights (only 2 hours and 20 minutes) on Vision Airlines from Baltimore to Freeport, and 4 nights at the Radisson Grand Lucayan Hotel. We arrived late afternoon of February 5th and departed early morning on February 9th. This gave us just over three days of birding…

• 2012 [11 November] - Carl T Ball

  Report
  On Nov 15, 2012, we went on a 3-night cruise on the Carnival Glory to the Bahamas with stops in Nassau & Freeport. We had a balcony room but didn’t see any birds from the balcony we would not have seen touring the islands. We couldn’t stay very long on the balcony because of the cigarette, cigar, & marijuana smoke. At least we didn’t smell any smoke in our room. We should have got an inside room for this trip…

• 2013 [03 March] - Jesse Fagan

  Report
  One of my favorite tours combining warm weather, pink sand beaches, plenty of delicious seafood (conch this, conch that), and, of course, a very unique set of birds. We did exceptionally well this year, seeing four Bahamian endemics, one a recent split (Bahama Warbler), and count 'em, EIGHT Kirtland's Warblers. We had some highlights including those Kirtland's, but I don't think we will soon forget the Great Lizard-Cuckoos hunting in the tall coppice, parrots that we could nearly reach out and touch, and that small plane ride to Eleuthera!…

• 2014 [02 February] - Petri Hottola

  PDF Report
  …In regard to birds, there were four target species which needed to be seen, two of them relatively difficult in mid-winter: Bahama Woodstar, Bahama Swallow, the recently split Bahama Warbler and Bahama Yellowthroat…

• 2014 [03 March] - Jesse Fagan

  Report
  This short tour was again very successful. We saw all the potential Bahamian endemics well, plus another fifteen or so regional (i.e. Caribbean) endemics, as well as the very special Kirtland's Warbler (four individuals this year!). Group highlights included the endemic Bahama Woodstar, a bird we struggled to see on Abaco but found to be very obliging on Eleuthera; the colorful Cuban (Rose-throated) Parrots which were happily feeding on the fruiting gumbo limbo trees; and finding new wintering territories for the Kirtland's Warbler (a hit!). But the Great Lizard-Cuckoo cackling away in the tall coppice was the big winner -- he is just too awesome...

• 2015 [03 March] - Michael R Greenwald

  PDF Report
  For the first time, I decided to visit a West Indian island in pursuit of a single bird. In 2000, the Black-cowled Oriole (Icterus dominicensis) was split into Black-cowled Oriole (I. prosthemelas) of the mainland and Greater Antillean Oriole (I. dominicensis) of the Greater Antilles. In 2010, the latter was further split into Hispaniolan Oriole (I. dominicensis), Cuban Oriole (I. melanopsis), Puerto Rican Oriole (I. portoricensis), and Bahama Oriole (I. northropi). I had seen all of them except I. northropi, which, since its extirpation on Abaco in the 1990s, is restricted to Andros Island and reduced to a declining population of about 250 birds. Having a very limited period during spring break, it was time to look for the Bahama Oriole.

• 2015 [04 April] - Jesse Fagan - Abaco, Eleuthera, Andros and the Kirtland's Warbler

  Report
  ...It all started on the island of Abaco with a visit to Abaco Island National Park and our first Cuban Parrots perched in the pine trees and a Bahama Yellowthroat skulking in the understory. Bahama Palm Shores was also very good for parrots and West Indian Woodpecker, but lunch at Pete's Pub and "sittin' on the dock of the bay" in Cherokee Sound were also memorable.

• 2015 [04 April] - Max Berlijn

  PDF Report
  Annotated list

• 2016 [04 April] - Jesse Fagin

  Report
  This was a very successful tour to the Bahamas. It was the first time we included Andros as part of the main tour, and it went as well as expected. We saw five Bahama endemics (the five possible on our tour route), plus a host of Caribbean regional endemics...

• 2019 [03 March] - Jesse Fagan

  Report
  This was another successful running of our short and fun itinerary to the Bahamas. We had awesome weather this year, and the birds didn't disappoint. We got to see all the possible endemics (including the local Bahama Oriole), several regional endemics (amazing looks at Great Lizard-Cuckoo and very cooperative West Indian Woodpecker), and, of course, wintering Kirtland's Warbler. Thanks to my fun group, and I look forward to seeing you again on another adventure.

• 2019 [04 April] - Mark Van Biers - Hispaniola and Puerto Rico with Jamaica & Bahamas

  PDF Report
  The highlight of our recent Hispaniola and Puerto Rico endemics extravaganza was without a doubt the magnificent male Antillean Crested Hummingbird that showed so very well in a flowering tree in northeastern Puerto Rico.

Click on WAND to see Fatbirder’s Trip Report Repository…

• Grand Bahama Birders' B&B

  Accommodation
  Grand Bahama Birders' Bed and Breakfast offers visiting Birders to Grand Bahama a unique experience. We offer the "Garden Apartment" with two twin bedrooms and bath with shower each, a sitting room with kitchenette, coffee machine, refrigerator, microwave, and a private patio where a healthy extensive continental breakfast is being served. This is a perfect option for a couple or a family of four. ..

• Small Hope Bay Lodge

  Accommodation
  An all-inclusive 21 room resort with cottages right on the beach. The perfect place for bird watching, scuba diving, snorkeling, fishing, exploring, rest, relaxation, and rediscovery. More than 300 species of birds have been recorded in the Bahamas. One hundred and nine species breed in the Bahamas, 169 species are migrants or winter here, and 45 species are vagrants. Some, like the Greater Flamingo and the Bahama race of the Cuban Parrot, can only be found in the wild on one or two of the islands

• Tiamo Resort

  Accommodation
  Flash

• Bahamas wildlife (and where to find them)

  Website
  Our native animals are not relegated to the ocean, though, that too is a bucket list experience. There are few things more transformative, almost spiritual, than swimming with the sharks. Nothing makes a boating day better than dolphins in our beautiful oceans leaping out of the clear blue waters and playing and racing alongside your boat. The Bahamas is a scuba diver’s paradise, and I could go on, but more than just the ocean, we have so much more to offer.

• Bird Watching

  Website
  Out of all the 700 islands and cays that make up The Islands of The Bahamas, Grand Bahama Island has the distinction of hosting the second highest number of native bird species. For birdwatchers and nature lovers, the island is a true mecca, a place where they can see 18 of the 28 species of Bahamian birds that are not seen in the U.S., Canada, or Europe

• Eco-adventures

  Website
  The Bahamas has allocated an additional 58 sites for future development as National Parks, in particular the Andros Barrier Reef, third largest living coral reef in the world, and the Athol Island/Rose Island marine environment